Death Penalty Mitigation

A Handbook for Mitigation Specialists, Investigators, Social Scientists, and Lawyers

First Edition

Jose B. Ashford and Melissa Kupferberg

Highly practical chapters describing how to perform a social history investigation

Links socio-cultural theories and frameworks to legal conceptions of capacity, choice, and character

Introduces new developments in the social sciences for assessing issues of practical rationality, diminished volition, and character

Contains life course theory from sociology and identity theory of relevance to members of this association.

Death Penalty Mitigation

A Handbook for Mitigation Specialists, Investigators, Social Scientists, and Lawyers

First Edition

Jose B. Ashford and Melissa Kupferberg

Description

This book provides an introduction to socio-legal forms of mitigation in capital sentencing. It helps mitigation specialists, defense investigators, social scientists, and lawyers in developing socio-cultural themes of mitigation. It examines scientific formulations, concepts, and frameworks for structuring social history investigations and assessments of moral culpability. A fundamental aim of this handbook was to provide mitigation professionals not only with an understanding of the context of mitigation in criminal justice thinking, but also ways of contextualizing issues of blame and culpability.

Cases are used to illustrate how to identify, evaluate and present mitigation evidence in assessing issues of culpability in the mitigation of punishment
in death penalty cases. It also exposes mitigation professionals to recent developments in the social sciences with implications for assessing issues of practical rationality, diminished volition, unfortunate forms of socialization, criminal propensities, socio-cultural deprivation, and gang involvement. These topics are linked with legal and philosophical conceptions of moral culpability that offer mitigation professionals new ways of thinking about both proximal and remote forms of mitigation. These socially oriented lenses, used in examining these concepts and legal issues, offer alternative ways of thinking about issues of capacity, choice and character in assessing diminished forms of moral culpability. The book concludes with recommendations for future research and other
strategies for promoting the improvement of practice in the field of capital mitigation.

Unlike other books on death penalty mitigation, this book examines issues of relevance to social scientists, as well as mental health professionals. In fact, it is one of the only books written on the subject that includes opportunities for the inclusion of expert testimony on socio-legal matters by social criminologists, sociologists, social psychologists, and social workers.

Death Penalty Mitigation

A Handbook for Mitigation Specialists, Investigators, Social Scientists, and Lawyers

First Edition

Jose B. Ashford and Melissa Kupferberg

Table of Contents

Foreword by Craig Haney

Part I: Foundation Knowledge for Mitigation Practice

1. Mitigation practice in death penalty cases 2. Legal landscape: History of mitigation of punishment3. Mitigation professionals: Roles and responsibilities4. Assessing culpability: The role of background and character

Part II: Social Science Concepts and Frameworks for Developing Mitigation Evidence

5. Theoretical frameworks and concepts for guiding social history investigations 6. Assessing practical rationality and volitional concerns with social science frameworks7. Issues in assessing character, criminal propensities, and socio-cultural depravation8. Social frameworks and the mitigation of criminal
motivations

Conclusions and research needsReferencesAppendix

Death Penalty Mitigation

A Handbook for Mitigation Specialists, Investigators, Social Scientists, and Lawyers

First Edition

Jose B. Ashford and Melissa Kupferberg

Author Information

José B. Ashford is a Professor of Social Work and Director of Office of Forensic Social Work Research and Training in the School of Social Work at the Arizona State University. He is a sociological social psychologist with a specialization in life course criminology and sociology. He is also a licensed clinical social worker with specialized experience and training in the area of forensic mental health. He provides expert witness testimony and consultation on socio-cultural forms of mitigation and social history matters in death penalty cases.

Death Penalty Mitigation

A Handbook for Mitigation Specialists, Investigators, Social Scientists, and Lawyers

First Edition

Jose B. Ashford and Melissa Kupferberg

Reviews and Awards

Ashford has written a book that fills a great gap in the psychological literature, one that every potential expert witness should read, or dismiss at his or her own peril." -Donald Dutton, PsycCRITIQUES